


The Thief's Apprentice

by Amisbro



Category: Code: Realize, Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Comedy, Flashbacks, Gen, Magic, Mischief, Train Heists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 02:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10710468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amisbro/pseuds/Amisbro
Summary: Joshua is the Personal Assistant to the Count of Permafrost but he also has a secret!  Apparently our friend has a past that is pretty interesting and it leads to a lot of intrigue among the STARISH/QN contingent!You want to know about this don't you?Well come on in and meet "The Thief's Apprentice





	The Thief's Apprentice

It was a beautiful Spring day in Tokyo. Sun was shining and a very light breeze was coming through so there were no real issues with heat and you could go out wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops if you wanted. Most weren’t yet as the Summer season hadn’t started although with as fast as time as been flying…you’d be surprised right?

In Shining Academy both STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT were in rehearsals for tours that they would be going on in the coming weeks. STARISH was actually being booked outside of Japan for the first time ever and QN was staying in the country. This was a decision that was made because according to the schedule that Joshua had received for all of QN they had different obligations within the country so they wouldn’t be able to do the big tour that Shining wanted. It stunk because there was an idea for a big promotional tour with them and HEAVENS to do a co-promotion outside of the country but the obligations put the kibosh on that and it honestly bummed Joshua out because of the fact that it would have been cool to have all three groups touring and when he broke the news to Raging it wasn’t good…to say the least he was a bit perturbed but it was out of his control.

ANYWAYS

While the two groups were going to do their different routines for the day Joshua went to go see Shining to see what he might be doing for the next few days. The rehearsals and all were going to take up their time greatly so the fact that he was free was both a blessing and a curse especially since Joshua JUST really came back recently to work under Camus…the drawbacks of being gone for a little while right?

As Joshua was getting ready to knock on the door Shining commanded for the PA to the Count to enter so he did and what Joshua saw was an unusually unorganized office! What on EARTH was going on?!

“Mr. President it would seem that a bomb hit this office…what in the heck is going on here friend?” Joshua asked puzzled and Shining looked up from his spot behind the desk 

“Ah Mr. Curtis I didn’t see you come in!” Saotome exclaimed which is funny because he was the one who told him to come on in “It would seem I lost one of my good pens that I use for signing documents and this is the main one I use so I don’t want to lose it. Would you like to help me find it?” He asked and Joshua scratched his chin for a second and then snapped his fingers and came up with an idea

“Alright…got a skinny pencil case or pen holder lying around?” Joshua asked as he removed his handkerchief from his jacket pocket

“Huh? Yeah right here but how is that gonna help?” Shining asked confused

“Ooh you’ll see…just trust me on this one.” Joshua told Shining as he covered up the case with his handkerchief and then took his pen out of his inside jacket pocket…the reason for this wasn’t going to be clear yet until he did exactly what he was going to do.

So what did Joshua do? Well he went and took the case ,which he showed was empty, and then place the handkerchief over it after closing it up. Now the key is that Joshua never did anything to the case other than cover it up with the cloth before the final step which was tapping it with his own pen. After he did that the next step was even more mind-blowing for the President.

“Your pen is in that case!” Josh proclaimed and the President looked at him like he was nuts…there is no way it could be in there…right?

“Mr. Curtis I think you took a blow to the head while you were away there is no POSSIBLE way that the pen is in…” Shining was cut off as he removed the cloth and opened the case to find the pen in there.

“Alright…how did you..” Shining wanted to finish his question but Josh put a finger to his lips as if to gesture that he wasn’t going to tell him. There was more to this “Assistant” than met the eye for sure

After the show with Shining Joshua was dismissed and he started whistling a song that he has heard a couple of times before and all the while that he was doing his thing he looked around and noticed that there was something a bit drab about the walls but what could he do to help decorate

Ah HA!

Joshua went and got 11 Vases that he knew weren’t being used and put a different coloured cloth over each and when he was all ready he tapped each one 3 times and when all was said and done each of the containers had a different coloured rose in it. Each one to symbolise each member of STARISH and QN

“PERFECT!” Joshua exclaimed as he mounted each Vase by each door. The boys were gonna LOVE this when they got back from their practices!

“What’s going on Joshua?” Came a voice behind him and when Joshua turned around he saw the lovely and talented Haruka Nanami standing behind him as he finished placing the final vase on the wall

“Oh hello m’lady” Joshua began “I was just finishing up doing some redecorating because…ah the walls here looked like the could use some colour and i was thinking we need to have some pretty flowers around here don’t you?” Joshua asked and Haruka nodded in both agreement and appreciation…this gave Joshua an idea

“Hey Haruka…what’s your favor favorite color?” Joshua asked and Nanami told him and that is when he got out his cloth again and told Haruka to hold her hand like she was holding a microphone and she did as asked while he placed the cloth over her hand. The reason wasn’t apparent but it was about to be as he counted to 3 and then snapped his fingers to see the look on Nanami’s face when a flower popped up in her hand!

“What?!” Haruka exclaimed looking at what WAS her empty hand but now had a flower produced into it! “How did you do that Curtis-San?” Nanami asked and Joshua just smiled in response.

“Let’s just say a very good friend of mine taught me a little something about the wonders of magic. You see Haruka we both know I am from the States but I also held a brief residence in London and it was there I met a very good friend who taught me a thing or two about magic…it just went dormant when I moved here to take the position with Camus is all.” Joshua explained and Haruka now was even more intrigued…as were the gentlemen that suddenly appeared behind him!

“Curtis-kun is a magician? I only knew that Camus could do magic” Natsuki said as Joshua turned around to face his audience

“Who knew that this talent could be used to make the place more lively and colorful. I heard that there were people with hidden talents among us but I never knew it was someone like him” Ren said in one of the more shocked voices anyone heard from him

“Is there anyway we can meet this person that taught you how to do this? This kind of thing is incredible!” Exclaimed Cecil and Joshua had to have a ponder at the last question…he WANTED to have them meet the person that was responsible for this BUT he didn’t know if he was available and well…he lives in LONDON!

*snaps fingers*

PERFECT!

It became even more perfect when Joshua saw his phone go off and he saw the name on the phone…oh what fun this was going to be!

“”Well Good Afternoon ‘Mr. Gentlemen’s Thief”. How are we doing on this fine day?” Joshua asked with the biggest smile on his face

“We are doing very well Mr. Apprentice. I trust that you have been well and using what I taught you to the best of your abilities?” Lupin Asked and Joshua nodded before speaking

“Very much so. I actually was just talking with some of my friends and well they have a unique request: They would like to meet you!” Joshua said with some excitement in his voice and Lupin could tell this was about to get fun.

“Alright…go get ready and call me back when everything is ready.” The Master Thief told his student and Joshua nodded before hanging up.

“I have to go get some things ready for our guests arrival. If you would be so kind as to all wait out here that would be WONDERFUL because it might be a minute or two.” Joshua explained and headed back towards Camus’ room…things were about to get interesting

“Alright so let’s see…for this to work we need the big cloth which is….ah!” Joshua shouted as he found it in his suitcase that was all the way at the top of his personal closet. This is the one that NO ONE goes in even Camus and when he got it there was one more step to his preparations

“Now…we take the cloth and stand it like so and then a twirl and a snatch and…” Joshua trailed off as he grabbed the cloth and looked in the mirror with a smile! The white shirt and red tie were gone replaced by a black bow tie and green jacket and the black slacks were replaced by white pants and gold boots! Ohh what fun they were about to have!

When Joshua walked out after the change and into the dining area he saw the members of STARISH and QN waiting for him with bated breath and when they saw the outfit he was wearing that shocked them even more! There was definitely more than meets the eye to this kid now wasn’t there!

“Alright…I think we kept our friend waiting long enough just give me one second to get the call in.” Joshua explained and when he dialed the number again Lupin just said “ready” and Joshua pulled out the chair at the head of the table and placed the cloth on it.

“In about 5 seconds our visitor is about make his appearance so watch the chair cos so someone is going to be sitting in it!” Joshua yelled and counted it down for everyone 

5…

4…

3…

2…

Joshua raised the cloth at 1 and in the once empty chair was the man himself…”Gentleman Thief” Arsene Lupin!

“How?” Was all Otoya could get out

“That was incredible Curtis-san!” Reiji exclaimed

“When do you learn to do THAT?!” Syo yelled

“I knew they wouldn’t believe us if we pulled this off my friend…but good afternoon all the same Lupin.” Joshua said as he bowed to his instructor who returned it in kind.

“Good afternoon Joshua and good afternoon to you all. I see we have a pretty amazed crowd of people especially the three people in the back over there.” Lupin pointed out as Ringo, Ryuuga and Shining were now among the assembled crowd.

“Joshua that…were you always able to do this or…” The S Class teacher trailed off as his amazement refused to let him finish the question

“That was AMAZING!” Came the remark from Ringo and Shining…well he was looking for his glasses after seeing that display

“So I’m guessing you all probably wonder how the “Gentleman’s Thief” and myself got to know each other and more importantly how he taught me how to do things like this no?” Joshua asked and everyone just nodded their heads. Lupin was ready for this actually and decided to tell them all the story

[FLASHBACK]

3 Years Earlier

It was a pretty miserable day in London. To say the least being caught out in the rain and the elements SUCKED if you were the unfortunate person to have to catch a train to go home and the closest depot was actually outdoors. It is actually here that our story begins

You see…Joshua was a young man that was looking for work in the country of England but he wanted to just be a simple man. He wanted to work out in a shop and meet the people and tell them to have a good day…the good life! What he GOT was still a great life but it was gonna be an adventure on this day and for a week or so on!

See there were rumors that there was going to be a train robbery on the way to his depot and Joshua was never one to believe such tales because the area he actually lived in was so low on crime that the Police were pretty much just being paid to say “Hello” and that was that…hell the Queen wondered why she had ANY people patrolling that area because of how little crime there was BUT…that’s not the point. The fact there were even RUMORS made this day all that more intriguing and Joshua had heard among the rumors was a “Legendary Thief” that was going to rob the train but not because he was a bad person…no he heard that the individual in question was nothing more than a “Gentleman” and someone like him Joshua could get behind and support…maybe he could learn a thing or two from him in the process!

While Joshua waited he looked at the map he had of the area and followed about where the train route was supposed to he and also where the switches were. One thing Joshua was always good at was being able to tell where he was by landmarks and it turned out that one of the switches was going to be by a statue of a lesser known war hero and it was an area that Joshua knew quite well. Something told him to go there and more to the point that there might be someone there that could aid him with getting on the train earlier than expected!

BOY WAS HE RIGHT!

The walk was a good one and when Joshua got to the switch off he noticed a man wearing a red suit, white pants, black boots and a good bow tie. He also had a cape, mask and top hat and to complete the ensemble a staff!

YEP…THIS IS WHO HE WAS LOOKING FOR!

“Excuse me sir” Joshua began “But I think I lost my way…can you tell me where the nearest train station is?” Joshua asked knowing full well he was lying…so did Lupin but he didn’t let on as they watched and waited for the train

“I do but I fear by the time you get back there the train might already be passed where you need to be…tell you what? Since you are already here do you want to come on a little bit of an adventure? After this is all said and done I can teach you a few things and the skills I teach you could be useful later on in life…what do you say?” Lupin offered and Joshua agreed. The two gents went to go see the person responsible for getting them to the train and the man’s name was Impey Barbicane!

Lupin explained the situation and Impey was happy to oblige as they got into the copter and made their way to the train. On the way there Joshua was getting a little nervous but at the same time excited. THIS was the Legendary “Gentlemen’s Thief” he heard so much about and now he was going to try and help them pull off the heist. One way or the other his “accident” was about to become something special.

Unfortunately for the group the Heist didn’t go off as they would have liked. Turns out it was a setup and they went shorthanded for a little while but not long after that the band of merries made their adjustments and corrected their mistakes!

As promised however Lupin made sure to teach Joshua some of his tricks but not just for pulling heists but fun little magic tricks that would wow a person and every time he did one it was amazing to the young man. The last trick that Lupin ended up teaching him was the one to teleport someone from one place to another over a great distance and it was a fun trick for him to learn for sure!

As we now know to this day Joshua remembers how Lupin taught him and the outfit he was given by Lupin before his final trick is the one he wears specifically when he is going for the big one!

[END FLASHBACK]

“WOW!” Was all anyone could say and even Camus was stunned! Its not often you can catch him with his mouth agape but this time…yeah!

“So it would turn out that my Assistant worked for a very noble cause years ago much like today. I’m quite surprised if I do say so myself.” Camus said trying to process all of this.

“Yes I did Camus. I believe in helping people especially people that have been wronged through non-violent means and that is what Lupin here taught me. I DID learn one other thing about him in the brief time I was with him…would you like to know what that is?” Joshua asked and they all nodded

“It turns out our friend here is a pretty good singer! I once heard him while he was getting ready for dinner with our friend Saint-Germain and he is quite excellent I gotta say…I dunno if he would be willing to showcase that but I think it would be awesome ESPECIALLY if he was willing to help out at the QUARTET NIGHT concert in a week or two.” Joshua said and Lupin actually nodded an affirmation in advance. One thing he promised Joshua was that because of the failed attempt with the train if there was something he needed in the future he would grant it…now it was up to QUARTET NIGHT

“OOOH this sounds fun! Myu-Chan can he join us for a concert?” Reiji asked WAY TOO EXCITEDLY

“I’m actually curious about this myself now…is it a rock song?” Ran asked and both Lupin and Joshua shook their heads “no” but Ran’s curiosity was such that he didn’t mind it

“The probability of this working out is actually quite high. Shining was looking for something to do for our next show as it is and I don’t see any way this could fail.” Ai commented and this all rested on Camus who probably didn’t like being shown up…but today he seemed to be in a bit of a good mood!

“I have no issue with this arrangement. If Shining will allow it then we will add it special for the concert in a week’s time…is that alright with the President?” Camus asked and Shining hurriedly nodded. There was NO WAY he was gonna pass this up!

With the decision made Joshua and Lupin bowed and then went on to go do their own practice for the concert. They now had only 7 days but they were going to make the best of it and one ting that they were good at was making the most out of a situaton.

One Week Later

It was a packed house for the boys of QUARTET NIGHT and when it came time for “Poison Kiss” per usual Joshua came in to help out with the song. This was the result of Shining discovering that the “True Power” of this song comes in pretty much when Joshua is in the group. For whatever reason the song’s power seems to amplify when he is involved and its something to behold for sure!

When the song ended the crowd was chanting for an Encore but Joshua held up his hand to silence the crowd and they obeyed while he explained what was going on.

“Don’t worry Madams…this concert isn’t over yet!” Joshua told them and they were all surprised when he addressed them as “Madams”…something was up!

“You see friends…about a week or so ago a friend of mine came for a visit to Shining Agency and while there he told an interesting story about how we became VERY GOOD friends! Well it was decided pretty much unanimously that he would be helping us for one night but first…we need to change a few things around.” Joshua explained and the first was that he needed to change so he pulled the same trick that he did in Camus’ room the week prior. The crowd was amazed when they saw the outfit was changed right in front of them and then Joshua noticed the mike stand…that had to be changed also

“Hmm…this won’t do either…excuse me friends” Joshua said and in a flash the Mike stand was changed to an old stand one and when they saw it they noticed one letter on…what does this mean?

“Well…I think we are almost ready but now there is but one question to ask friends…” And with that Joshua snapped his fingers and the lights turned off only to turn back on not 10 seconds later and Arsene asked the penultimate question

“Shall we Dance?”

With that the music started and this time Joshua was siting behind a drum kit and the crowd was amazed not just at the magic show they witnessed but the the concert that Lupin and Joshua put on in front of them…it was truly a work of art AND one thing was clear to the Agency

Joshua was truly “The Thief’s Apprentice”!


End file.
